
Glass. 



Book 



ADDRESS 



DELIVERED AT 



JVIIDWAY IVIKKTINO HOUSE 



l:Hicrly Count^t ^ecBr^!^^ 

ON THE OCCASiON OF 

THE RELAYING OF THE CORNER STONE OF A 

MONUMENT TO BE ERECTED IN HONOR OF 

THE FOUNDERS OF MIDWAY CHURCH 

AND CONGREGATION ; 



CHARLES C. JOjN'ES, Jr., LL. D. 



AUGUSTA, GA. 

CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY. 

1889. 



ADDRESS 



DELIVERED AT 



IMIDWAY MEBTINO HOUSE 



Hibcrty Countijt C^eorgta^ 

ON THE OCCASiON OF 

THE RELAYINCl OF THE CORNER STONE OF A 

MONUMENT TO BE ERECTED IN HONOR OF 

THE FOUNDERS OF MIDWAY CHURCH 

AND CONGREGATION; 

BY 

CHARLES C. JONES, Jr., LL. D. 



AUGUSTA, GA. 

CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY. 

1889. 



-^3 l(ol 

Ol 






t:b^:h: jPLnDiDK.H:ss. 



Mr. Qhairman, Ladles and Gentlemen: 

The fifth, sixth, and seventh days of December 1852 were 
memorable in the history of Midway Church and of Liberty 
County. 

On Sabbath this venerable temple was crowded to reple- 
tion, and from its sacred desk the Rev. Dr. 1. S. K. Axson, of 
blessed memory, delivered a discourse replete with recollections 
of a brave and happy past, commemorative of a contented and 
prosperous present, and filled with encouragement for the 
future. 

As the sun rose on Monday morning he was saluted by 
salvos from field-guns manned by a detachment of the Chatham 
Artillery from Savannah, posted on yonder green. Generously 
responding to a courteous invitation extended by the good 
citizens of Liberty, this ancient and honorable Company had 
come to participate in the ceremonies of the occasion and, with 
their Washington guns, to evoke responsive echoes alike from 
patriotic breasts and from the depths of these moss-clad swamps. 
From a Liberty pole, planted in front of the church, fioated the 
National colors. The roads were crowded with vehicles, journey- 
ing from every part of the County, filled with joyous occupants, 
all converging to this historic spot. By ten o'clock in the fore- 
noon was seen a convocation such as this region had never wit. 
nessed at any former period. The venerable and beloved Col. 
William Maxwell, with military bearing and elastic step and 
wearing two blue rosettes, was President of the Day. He was 
assisted by Captains Peter VV. Fleming and Abiel Winn as 
Grand Marshalls. The German Brass Band from Savannah was 
present. A broad banner bearing the legends " Our Fathers : 
St. Johns Parish 1752 .•" — and " Oar Gountry, our ivhole 
Gountry : the land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, 
1852 " is borne by the chairman of the Committee of Arrange- 
ments, Mr. Thomas Q. Cassels, supported by Captain Cyrus 



Mallard. On the Sunbnry road a stately procession is formed 
which moves to the Chnrch where, after an ode — composed for 
the occasion by the Rev. Samuel J. Cassels — is sung, a 
historical oration is delivered by Mr. John B. Mallard. These 
ceremonies concluded, the assembly repairs to the green in 
front of this sacred edifice. Afterprayer by the Rev. Dr. Charles 
Colcock Jones, and an address by the Rev. John Winn, the 
corner stone of a monument is laid. Then follows a salute 
from the Artillery, and the ceremonies of the Day culminate in 
a banquet. Despite the clouds and the ram of the 7th, the 
Artillerists fire their guns, the Band discourses martial music, 
and the citizens repair en masse to Midway Church to complete 
the observance of the programme prescribed for the celebration 
of the hundreth anniversary of an event famous in the annals 
of this County. Again was the procession formed as on the 
previous day, and the column marched to the Church, where 
the hon: William Law — than wh(>m no more courteous gentle- 
man, eloquent advocate, profound jurist, and fair minded 
Judge ever adorned society and mamtained the standard of 
true excellency in this region, — delivered an oration remarkable 
for its dignity, appositeness, and eloquence. As on the 
preceding day, the festivities terminated with a bountiful 
banquet. At both these feasts numerous toasts were offered, 
and many patriotic and pleasing responses were made. And 
so the celebration ended. All hearts were filled with glad- 
ness. Nothing had occurred to interrupt the harmony or mar 
the pleasure of the occasion. Those who remember this convo- 
cation, and whose privilege it was to have witnessed, and to 
have participated in the observances of this centennial cele- 
bration, recur to it and to them as a privileged memory, — as a 
charming retrospect, luminous with hope, plenty, generosity, 
patriotism, friendship, gratitude, and genuine manhood. 

And what, my friends, was the meaning of this unusual 
demonstration at this time honored Church and in the midst of 
these silent shades? Why was the sober heart of old Liberty 
thus stirred to its inmost depths? Why was the repose of this 
consecrated Church-yard and of these circumjacent forests 
disturbed by the reverberations of the thunders of cannon ? 



5 

Why these martial strains, this outpouring of the multitude, 
these orations, the laying of this corner stone, these banquets, 
and these inspiring utterances? The answer is simple. After 
the lapse of a hundred years the citizens of this County, with 
one accord and in ghid acclaim, assembled at this historic spot 
—the home of morality and of religion, — a primal altar of liberty 
in the Revolutionary crisis, and the trysting place of 
patriots — to do honor to the memory of their fathers, and to 
set apart a place whereon a monument should rise to tell to the 
coming generations what they had accomplished in the great 
battle for truth, for freedom, and for God. Loyal was the 
sentiment and praiseworthy the motive which prompted this 
convocation. It comported well with the public spirit and the 
patriotic impulses which characterized the community. It was 
a just tribute to a worthy past. It certified the dignity of the 
former years, testified the gratitude of the present, and augured 
well for the future. 

Did time permit, and were it appropriate to this occasion, 
most pleasing would be the office to portray the circum- 
stances connected with the 'removal of the Dorchester and 
Beech-Island congregations from South Carolina to the 
Midway District in Georgia, -to recount the industry, the 
perseverance, and the triumphs of these settlers in bringing 
these primeval and marish lands into a state of cultivation, — 
to review their labors in the cause of agriculture, education, 
morality, and religion, — to tell the pious story of their guarded 
lives and of those divine ministrations for the stated observance 
of which a former temple was here erected, — to revive the 
memory of their leaders in the avocations of peace and war, and 
in the service of Jehovah, — to give tongue to the noble dead 
who sleep in yonder church yard, — to open the Revolutionary 
chapter in the history of this youthful Commonwealth and 
stir your hearts at remembrance of the deeds of heroism which 
were here enacted, — to remind you of the glorious part borne 
by St. John's Parish when, acting in advance of the Colony, 
the inhabitants, exhibiting a chivalry, fearlessness, and patriotism 
worthy of all admiration, and protesting against the encroach- 
ments of Parliament, declared for freedom, and sent Lyman 



Hall as a special delegate to the Continental Congress, and to 
assure yon how famously they sustained themselves in the face 
of invasion, conflagration, and overwhelmnig loss, struggling 
manfully until manifest wrongs were redressed, inalienable 
rights acknowledged, and national independence was 
achieved. 

Sir James Wright was not far from the mark when he 
located the head of the rebellion in St. John's Parish, and 
advised the Earl of Dartmonth that the rebel measures there 
inaugurated were to be mainly referred to tbe influence of the 
"descendants of New England people of the Puritan Indepen- 
dent sect" who. retaining "a strong tincture of Republican or 
Oliverian principles, entered into an agreement among them- 
selves to adopt both the resolutions and the association of the 
Continental Congress." On the altars erected within the 
Midway District were the fires of resistance by Georgia to the 
dominion of England earliest kindled: and Dr. Lyman Plall, of 
all the dwellers there, by his counsels, exhortations, and deter- 
mined spirit added stoutest fuel to the flames. Between the 
immigrants from Dorchester and the distressed Bostonians 
existed not only the ties of a common parentage, but also 
sympathies engendered by kindred religious, moral, social, and 
political training. It is not difficult to comprehend why the 
members of this Midway Congregation, at such an early date 
and in such an emphatic way, acknowledged themselves to be 
Revolutionists. The Puritan element, cherishing and pro- 
claiming intolerance of an Established Church and disbelief in 
the divine right of Kings, impatient of restraint, accustomed 
to independent thought and action, and uninfluenced by 
associations which encouraged tender memories of, and love for 
the mother country, asserted its hatreds, its affiliations, and its 
hopes with no uncertain utterance, and appears to have moulded 
and dominated the action of the entire parish. 

Crowned with hallowed associations is this spot, and filled 
with bravest recollections is the adjacent region. This Church 
where our fathers worshipped, and where our infant feet were 
taught the paths of peace and righteousness, rose from the 
ashes of a former temple burnt by ribald British soldiery. Within 



its porches patriots, with arms in their hands, were wont to 
assemble, while from the sacred desk the warrior parson, — his 
sword laid on altar, — inculcated in the same breath obedience 
to God and resistance to tyrants. Ju.>*t at the head of yonder 
causeway a breastwork was, in November 1778, erected and 
armed with two field pieces. Here Colonel White, with one 
hundred Continentals and militia, proposed to dispute the 
advance of Colonel Prevost who, issuing- from Florida, was 
movini^ through and plundering Southern Georgia. At Bull 
Town Swamp he had been confronted by a patriotic band too 
feeble to stay his onward march. Among the wounded were 
Colojiel John Baker, Captain Cooper, and William Goulding. 
At North Newport Bridge [subsequently known as Riceboro 
Bridge] further resistance was encountered at the hands of 
the sons of Liberty, but they were impotent to arrest the 
progress of the desolating column. Major William Baker, with 
a detachment of mounted militia, continued to skirmish with 
the enemy and, at every convenient point, strove to impede his 
advance. On the morning of the 20th of November Colonel 
White was joined by General James Screven, accompanied by 
twenty militia men. A conference between these leaders 
resulted in a resolution to abandon the defensive position in 
front of Midway Meeting House, and to select another about 
a mile and a half in the direction of the enemy, where the 
public road leading from Savannah to Darien passed through a 
thick wood. There, it was thought, an ambuscade might be 
advantageously laid. The contemplated movement was promptly 
made. Conducted by the notorious McGirth, who was entirely 
familiar with the locality, Prevost had arranged to place a party 
in ambush in the identical forest chosen by the Americans for 
a similar purpose. The opposing forces arrived upon the 
ground almof^t simultaneously, and firing immediately com- 
menced within cannon range of the spot where we are now 
assembled. Early in the action the gallant General James 
Screven — renowned for his patriotism and beloved for his 
virtues — received a severe wound and fell into the hands of 
the enemy. Although a prisoner and suffering from a mortal 
hurt, he was, by his captors — British and Tories — inhumanly 



liLitchered. A shot from one of the American field pieces 
passed through the neck oi Prevost's horse, and both animal 
and rider went down. Major Roman, — commanding the artil- 
lery, — supposing that the British leader had been killed, 
quickly advanced his two field pieces to take advantage of tlie 
existing confusion; and Major flames Jackson, thirdving the 
enemy was retreating, shouted victory. Prevost however, soon 
appeared mounted upon another horse, and quickly led his troops 
in a vigorous charge. Overborne by superior numbers, Colonel 
White retreated, with his command, upon Midway Meeting 
House, breaking down the bridges as he retired across the 
causeway, and keeping out small parties to annoy the enemy's 
flanks. Compelled to withdraw still further, he fell back along 
the line of the Savannah and Darien road in the direction of 
the Great Ogeechee Ferry. Desiring by stratagem to retard 
the pursuit of the enemy, he "prepared a letter as though it 
had been written to himself by Colonel Elbert, diracting him 
to retreat in order to draw the British as far as possible, and 
informing him that a large body of cavalry had crossed over 
Ogeechee river with orders to gain the rear of the enemy, by 
which their whole force would be captured." This letter was 
so dropped as, in the end, to find its way into the hands of 
Colonel Prevost, who seems to have regarded it as genuine. 
It is believed that it exerted a potent influence in repressing 
his forward movement which was prosecuted in the direction 
of Savannah not more than six or seven miles beyond Midway 
Meeting House. 

Meanwhile McGirth, reconnoitering with a strong detach- 
ment in the direction of Sun bury, ascertained that the expedi- 
tion under l^ieutenant Colonel Fuser had not arrived. This 
circumstance, in connection with the impending movement of 
the Rebel force embodied by Colonels Elbert and White at 
Great Ogeechee Ferry, — where a breast- work had been thrown 
up and prepai'ations had been made vigorously to dispute his 
further progress, — determined Prevost to abandon his enter- 
prise and return to St. Augustine. 

Treating the population as in rebellion against a lawful 
sovereign, and utterly refusing to stipulate for the security of 



9 

the country, the English Commander, upon his retreat, burnt 
Midway Meeting House, and all dwellings, negro-quarters, 
rice-barns, improvements, and harvested crops within his 
reach. The region was ruthlessly plundered. The track of 
his retiring army was marked by smoking ruins. His followers, 
unrestrained, indulged in indiscriminate pillage, appropriating 
plate, bedding, wearing appearel, jewels, provisions, and 
everything of value capable of easy transportation. The 
inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex, were subjected 
to insult, indignity, and robbery. St. John's Parish suffered 
terribly, and the patriotism of the people was sorely tried. 
The ruin was akin to that subsequently wrought when General 
Augustine Prevost, in 1779, raided through the rich plantations 
of South Carolina, or when the Federal Cavalry, under General 
Kilpatrick, in the winter of 1864-1865 over-ran, occupied, and 
devastated Liberty County, converting a well-ordered and 
abundantly supplied region into an abode of poverty, lawless- 
ness, and desolation. 

It will be remembered that in the autumn of 1778 Lord 
George Germain resolved to transfer the theatre of active war- 
fare from the Northern to the Southern Provinces. His hopes 
were fixed upon the subjugation and permanent occupation of 
Georgia and South Carolina. The former was to be invaded by 
forces issuing from East Florida, while Colonel Archibald 
(/ampbell, sailing from New York, was to supplement this 
movement by a direct attack upon Savannah. Caught thus 
between the upper and the nether millstone, it was confidently 
believed that Georgia would speedily be ground down into 
absolute submission to British rule. 

With a view to distracting the attention of General Howe 
and the Continental forces concentrated for the protection of 
Savannah, General Prevost dispatched from St. Augustine two 
expeditions— one by sea to operate directly against Sun bury, 
and the other by land to march through and lay waste the 
lower portions of Georgia. At Sunbury both armies were to 
form a junction preliminary to their united movement upon 
Savannah. Of the detachment conveyed by water and consist- 
ing of infantry and artillery, Lieutenant Colonel Fuser 



10 

was placed in command; while the conduct of the column 
penetrating by land was intrusted to Lieutenant Colonel 
Prevost. How this latter column was thwarted in compassing 
its objective we have already seen. 

Delayed by head-winds, Colonel Fuser did not arrive in 
front of Sunbury until Prevost had entered upon his retreat 
and was beyond the reach of communication. Late in Novem- 
ber 1778 his vessels, — transporting some five hundred men, 
battering cannon, field artillery, and mortars, — anchored 
abreast of Colonel's island. A debarkation was effected at the 
shipyard. Thence the land-forces, with field pieces, moving 
by the main road, marched upon Sunbury. The armed vessels 
sailed up Midway River in concert, and took position in front 
of the fort and in the back river opposite the town simultane- 
ously with its investment on the land side by the infantry and 
artillery. Col. John Mcintosh with one hundred and twenty 
seven Continental troops and some militia and citizens of 
Sunbury — numbering less than two hundred in all — held Fort 
Morris. The town was otherwise unprotected. Having com- 
pleted his dispositions, Colonel Fuser demanded the surrender 
of the Fort, — then the most important work on the Georgia 
Coast. To tliis demand Colonel Mcintosh returned the laconic 
and brave response: "Come and take it." 

To the inhuman intimation that if the demand was not 
complied with the British Commander would apply the torch 
at his end of the town, Mcintosh replied: "Whenever 
Colonel Fuser fires Sunbury on his side, I will apply the torch 
at my end, and let the flames meet in mutual conflagration." 

Instead of assaulting, Fuser hesitated, and awaited a 
report from scouts whom he had sent into the interior to 
ascertain tlie movements of Prevost and learn when a junction 
of his forces might be expected. Tliat ofiicer, as we have seen, 
unwilling, after the affair near Midwav Meeting House, to 
hazard an engagement with the (Continental troops supposed to 
be advancing from the Great Ogeechee ferry, and surprised at 
the non-appearance of Fuser before Sunbury, had commenced 
his retreat ai^d was already beyond the reach of easy communi- 
cation. Surprised and chagrined at the intelligence, Fuser 



11 

raised the siege, reem barked his troops, and returned to the 
river St. John, where he met the retiring forces ol Prevost. 
Mutual recriminations ensued between these officers, each 
charging upon the other the responsibiHty of the failure of the 
respective expeditions. 

Although Colonel Campbell, in December 1778, succeeded 
in capturing Savannah, be it remembered in praise of 
the valor of St. John's Parish and of the co-operative aid of 
the soldiers of the Midway Congregation, that the columns of 
Colonels Prevost and Fuser were successfully met and 
thwarted in their scheme for participation in the subjugation 
of the Capital of Georgia. 

Upon the fall of Savannah, General Prevost invested 
Sunbury and compassed the capture of that town with its 
dependent fort, — then commanded by Ma,jor Lane. Seventeen 
commissioned officers and one hundred and ninety live non- 
commissioned (officers and privates — Continental troops and 
militia included — constituted the garrison which then capitu- 
lated. Twenty four pieces of brass ordnance, one brass seven 
inch mortar, twenty pieces of iron ordnance, eight hundred 
and twenty four round shot of various sizes, one hundred 
stands of case and grape shot, thirty shells, fifty hand grenades, 
one hundred and eighty muskets with bayonets, twelve rifles, 
forty fusees and carbines, four wall pieces, and a considerable 
quantity of powder and small-arm ammunition fell into the 
hands of the enemy. Among the Americans one captain and 
two privates were killed, and six men were wounded. The 
Washington and Bullock galleys ran down to Ossabaw island 
where they were stranded on the beach and burned. 

Sunbury was then the rival of Savannah in population and 
commercial importance, and Fort Morris was the most formid- 
able Rebel fortification lu Georgia. 

Thus the dominion of St. John's Parish, despite the heroic 
endeavors of its inhabitants, passed into the hands of the 
Crown, to be wrested therefrom only upon the repossession of 
Savannah by General Wayne, in June 1782. Until the hap- 
pening of this auspicious event the sea coast of Georgia 
remained in a most pitiable condition. Plundering banditti 



12 

roved about, intent upon missions of insult, pillage, and inhu- 
manity. The times were sadly out ot joint, but the patriotism 
and the endurance of the inhabitants were equal to the 
emergency. 

I may not, my friends, compress within the limits of this 
hour even allusions to the various acts of gallant emprise on land 
and water which then transpired within the limits of the 
Midway District, or particularize the conflicts between Repub- 
licans and Loyalists, the encounters with Indians, and the 
exhibitions of patience, of valor, of individual prowess, and of 
wisdom which characterized the conduct of the leading 
members of Midway Congregation, and of the inhabitants of 
St. John's Parish. 

Did time permit, with filial reverence would we recall the 
memories of this brave epoch in the life of this community. 
Here dwelt Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett — signers of the 
Declaration of Independence — Richard Howly and Nathan 
Brownson, — early governors of Georgia, — Moses Allen, Ben- 
jamin Baker, Benjamin^_Andrew, Colonels William and John 
Baker, Generals James Screven and Daniel Stewart, Colonel 
John Mcintosh, Major John Jones, and many others, — patiiots 
all, — who risked fortune and life in support of country and free- 
dom during this primal struggle for independence. Here was 
the scene of the professional labors of Doctors Dunwoody, Alex- 
ander, and West, and among the citizens were numbered 
clergymen, teachers, and planters, whose influence was potent 
in their day and generation, and whose names, if here repeated, 
would challenge respect and veneration. 

"Oblivion is not to be hired."' Blindly scattering her 
poppy, she deals with places and with periods as with men, 
and they become as though they had not been. Nature 
survives, but nearly all the rest is shadow. In this soil so 
fecund, neglected gravestones — quickly covered with brambles 
and overturned by envious forest trees — "tell truth scarce 
forty years." 

Behold the changes which have overtaken this venerable 
Church ! Mark the decadence in population, wealth, and 
influence which has occurred in this congregation, and in this 



13 

swamp-region of Liberty County once so prosperous and 
happy ! Surely the buried treasures of the past are here far 
more conspicuous than the expectations of the present. We 
feel as though we were walking in a vain shadow. 

Behold the desolation which has swept over Sunbury once 
the rival of Savannah in commercial importance, and the home 
of refinement, of commercial enterprise, of comfort, and of 
hospitality! Bereft of trade, despoiled of communications, it's 
squares, lots, streets and lanes converted into a corn-field, — 
even the bricks of the ancient chimneys carted away for other 
uses, — no sails whitening the blue waters of Midway 
River, — the old cemetery so overgrown with trees and 
brambles that the graves of the dead cannot be located after 
the most diligent search, — Fort Morris, erstwhile the mili- 
tary pride of the coast, utterly abandoned and enveloped 
in a wild growth of cedars and myrtles, — academy, 
churches, market-house, billiard-room, wharves, store-houses, 
residences, all gone, and only the bold Bermuda covered bluff" 
and the beautiful river with the green island slumbering in its 
embrace to remind us of this lost town ! A stranger pausing 
here would find scarcely a trace of the past, formerly so replete 
with life and importance, but now existent only in the skeleton 
memories which redeem place and name from that oblivion 
which sooner or later is the common lot of all things human. 
The same bold bluff', — the same broad expanse of marshes 
stretching onward to the confines of the Atlantic, — the same 
blue outlines of Colonel's island and the Bryan shore,— the 
same sea-washed beach of St. Catherine, — the same green 
island dividing the river as it ebbs and flows with restless 
tide, — the same soft sea-breezes, — the same over-arching skies, 
benignant sun, and pale-faced moon, — the same sweet voices 
and tranquil scene which nature gave and still perpetuates, — 
but all else how changed ! Here have we no continuing city. 
Nevertheless, from out the shadows of this almost forgotten 
past appear manly forms and recollections of memorable 
occurrences which, triumphing over the decay of time and 
plaoe, claim honorable immortality, and inspire hope for the 
future of a region the history of which has been dignified by 
such exhibitions of worth and excellence. 



14 

During the progress of the Revolution no people could 
have been more loyal to the cause of liberty, none uiOie patient 
under privations, none more active in the defence of home and 
country than the members of this Midway Congregation. 
And, when the war was ended, rebuilding their habitations, 
and causing their wasted plantations to bloom as a garden, the 
inhabitants, — still clinging to the religious and patriotic senti- 
ments of their fathers, — entered upon a career of prosperity, 
of morality, of education, and of refinement which, until the 
region was overtaken by the desolations consequent upon the 
late conflict between the States, won for Liberty County a 
reputation second to none within the wide borders of this 
Commonwealth. 

Although the shadows of penury and of desuetude are 
resting upon this venerable church, there are memories of holy 
men and virtuous women, of worthy deeds and significant 
events, of noble aspirations and elevating influences, which 
the lapse of years has not obliterated, which the mutations of 
fortune have not consigned to oblivion. In their conservation 
we take a loyal interest, and of them we are justly proud. 

With the history of the Midway Congregation from the 
close of the Revolutionary war until the centennial celebration 
in 1852, — with the names, virtues, and services of the pious 
pastors who ministered in sacred things at this altar, — with 
the influence exerted in the cause of liberty, morality, educa- 
tion, and religion, and with the names and deeds of those 
who, having received their training here, went abroad in the 
land to illustrate whatever was of good repute in the stations 
of clergyman, teacher, lawyer, physician, jurist, statesman, 
missionary, scientist, senator, representative, minister plenipo- 
tentiary, and planter, you have on a former occasion been fully 
advised. The historic lesson you have learned is worthy of 
every remembrance. Even while I speak, you instinctively 
call the roll of honor, and your cheeks are suflus-d with con- 
scious pride as the prominent actors, living and dead, move in 
stately procession before your admiring gaze. 

When the centennial was celebrated in 1852 everything 
relating to this congregation and county was in a prosperous 



15 

and satisfactory condition. While there were few who could lay 
claim to large estates, the planters of this community were in 
comfortable cii'cumstances. They were industrious, observant 
of theii obligations, humane in the treatment of their servants, 
given to hospitality, fond of manly exercise, and solicitous for 
the moral and intellectual education of their children. The 
traditions of the fathers gave birth to patriotic impulses and 
encouraged a high standard of honor, integrity, and manhood. 
The military sj^irit survived in the person of the Liberty Inde- 
pendent Troop; and, on stated occasions, contests involving- 
rare excellence in horsemanship and in the use of the sabre 
and pistol attracted the gaze of the public and won the 
approving smiles of noble women. Leisure hours were spent 
in hunting and fishing, and in social intercourse. Of litigation 
there was little. Misunderstandings, when they occurred, 
were usually accommodated by honorable arbitration. Per- 
sonal responsibility, freely admitted, engendered mutual 
respect and a most commendable degree of manliness. The 
rules of morality and of the Church were respected, acknowl- 
edged and upheld. The community was well-ordered and 
prosperous, and the homes of the inhabitants were peaceful 
and happy Of all the political divisions of this Common- 
wealth none was more substantial, observant of law, or better 
instructed than the county of Liberty. Enviable was her 
position in the sisterhood of counties. In bringing about this 
satisfactory condition of affairs the influence of Midway 
Church and its congregation was very potent. The Reverend 
Doctor L S. K. Axson was then the beloved pastor, and he was 
assisted by the Rev. T. S. Winn. Doctor Axson resigning on the 
9th of November 1853, a call was tendered to the Rev. Edward 
Palmer of South Carolina. This call being declined, on the 
30th of March 1854 the Rev. D. L. Buttolph was chosen as 
co-pastor with the Rev. Mr. Winn. 

In March 1855 a portion of the Midway Congregation 
withdrew and organized a Presbyterian church in Walthour- 
ville under the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. John Jones. 

On the 2nd of January 1855, the Rev. T. S. Winn resigned 
his pastoral charge; and, on the 12th of March in the same 



16 

year, the Rev. John F. Baker was elected co-pastor with Dr. 
Biittolph. At his own request Mr. Baker was excused from 
entering upon his ministerial engagement until November 
1855, and the Rev. R. Q. Mallard was elected as a temporary 
supply. Mr. Baker's connection with the church was of short 
duration. It was, on his own motion, severed on the 4th of 
February 1850. 

To fill the vacancy thus caused, the Rev. Francis H. 
Bowman was called on the 1st of October 1856. On the 11th 
of March 1857, he was regularly elected co-pastor. Resigning 
this position on the 24th of May 1 859, in March 1860 the Rev. 
Donald Fraser was chosen to fill his place, but the tender was 
declined. The Reverend Dr. Buttolph continued to be the 
pastor of the Church. He was belovsd by all, and held this 
office during the war. After 1860 no co-pastor was elected, 
but it appears, by the Minutes, that an effort was made to 
employ a missionary at a salary of six hundred dollars. In 
this capacity the Rev. Donald Fraser served for some time; 
and, in 1863, while Dr. Buttolph was absent on leave. Rev. 
Richard Way ministered in holy things. 

I am informed by my friend the Hon. John L. Harden, — 
to whom I am indebted for the foregoing information touching 
the terms of service of the late pastors of this congregation, — 
that between the month of March 1864 and the 9tli of Manjh 
1887, there occurred no annual meetings of the officers and 
"right-holders" of Midway Church. Meanwhile, the Presbyte- 
rian congregation at Gravel Hill, or Fleming-ton, had been 
organized, and the entire region had been prostrated by the 
disastrous termination of the Confederate struggle for Inde- 
pendence. During the war between the States the manhood 
of this community was enlisted in the armies of the Confed- 
eracy. Everything was subordinated to the exigencies of the 
trying emergency. 

While during the progress of the war, and until the fall of 
Savannah in December 1864, the ordinances of religion and 
divine ministrations were regularly observed by the Midway 
congregation — led by that gentle Christian and beloved man 
of God, the Rev. Dr. Buttolph, — so soon as Kilpatrick's cavalry 



17 

over-ran the region, plundering and demoralizing everything 
and in all places, there fell upon this venerable church and its 
worshippers a dark curtain of penury, of disappointment, and 
of desuetude, which has never been wholh^ lifted. It was a 
mournful chapter in the history of this community when these 
unrestrained freebooters roamed at large through these peace- 
ful highways, occupied this holy temple, desecrated it with 
ribald oaths, stripped it of every garniture, plundered adja- 
cent plantations, wantonly insulted and robbed defenceless 
women, children, old men, and even negroes, perpetrated 
repeated acts of violence, lawlessness, and depravity, uprooted 
the foundations of society, overturned domestic relations, and 
converted a well-ordered, unarmed region into a terrorized 
pandemonium. From that shock there has never been 
recovery. Aside from the positive and direct losses encoun- 
tered at this time, the liberation of the slave population has 
wrought a change in the conduct of agricultural operations 
in this malarial region far more radical and enduring than 
that experienced in other and healthier localities. Enforced 
removals have occurred. Property has been practically aban- 
doned, so that what was formerly the most fertile and wealthiest 
portion of the county is now the poorest, the most unprofitable, 
and consequently the least desirable. 

Such reverses — for the arrest of which there appears little 
present hope — have told with fearful eft'ect upon the prosperity 
of this Church of our Fathers. The supporting population 
has been largely withdrawn, so that convenient access may 
no longer be had to these accustomed pews. A violent 
mutation has supervened, the present influence of which we 
all sincerely deplore, and the ultimate result of which can 
only be conjectured. Meanwhile, and until the day dawn, it is 
manifestly the duty of those who are clothed with the trust, 
to attend as best they may to the perpetuation of their organ- 
ization, to the conservation of this sacred property, and, as occa- 
sion may occur, to the consummation of such schemes as may 
appear most suitable for the encouragement of its appropriate 
uses. Where there are so many holy memories, such a 
multitude of inspiring traditions, and so many consecrated 



IS 

graves, — forbidding as the present may seem, — there should 
be hope of sometliing better in the coming years. At any 
rate, let present duty be discharged, leaving the rest to God. 
Let us in no wise prove recreant to the spirit, the energy, and 
the fortitude of our fathers. Our endurance should prove 
equal to our calamity; and, although existent circumstances 
exert their depressing influence and retard the fulfillment 
of purposes as broad as generous hearts could desire, clinging 
to the exalted memories of the past and cherishing the 
ennobling sentiments to which they necessarily and legiti- 
mately give birth, let us do what we can to transmit them 
unimpaired, to testify our grateful appreciation of their value, 
and to manifest in our walk and conversation their vitalizing 
power. 

During the ceremonies observed at the centennial celebra- 
tion nearly thirty seven years agone, a corner stone was laid 
in the green in front of this Church. It was the intention ot 
those who then placed it in position to erect above it a monu- 
ment in honor of the fathers of this venerable Meeting House, 
and of the early members of this Midway Congregation. That 
purpose has never been effectuated. Among the vandal acts 
perpetrated by Kilpatrick's Cavalry were the wanton removal 
and rifling of that corner stone. It has been partially 
recovered; and, in its repaired condition, we are present to day, 
with filial reverence, to restore it to its original position, and 
to assume the fulfillment of the laudable design originally 
contemplated. 

Rescued from a lawless fate, again do we, with becoming 
loyalty and in all good hope, commit this stone to the resting 
place, and consecrate it to the use which our fathers patriotically 
designated. May He, whose sleepless eye watches alike over 
the temple dedicated to His service and the dead who have 
died in the Lord, guard it from future sacrilege, and preserve 
it as the corner stone of the monument which we propose here 
to erect. 

Although the tide of active, intelligent life appears, in 
large measure, to have receded from this long-accustomed 
shore, although shadows still gather about us and the gloom 



19 

of disaster hangs heavily above plantation and highway, 
although the voice of the pastor is seldom heard within the 
porches of this almost deserted temple, and the dust of silent 
Sabbaths settles noiselessly upon altar and pew, we will never- 
theless here set up a column in remembrance of all that has 
been, in praise of those who sleep within the ivy-mantled walls 
of this Church-yard, in commemoration of the deeds and virtues 
of our ancestors, and in confident expectation of the rehabilita- 
tion of this now wasted community. 

There is no cloud which has not its silver lining. Human 
calamities are finite. The sunlight of tomorrow will dissipate 
the shadows of today. The mountain laurel will render 
verdant and beautiful even the crater of the extinct volcano, 
and the flowers of hope will eventually bloom in the garden of 
present despair. In the elevation of a memorial shaft above 
this silent spot we will bespeak a perpetuation of names and 
events which should not perish from the recollection of the 
living, — affbrd gracious confirmation of the fact that this 
generation is not unmindful of the obligations which it owes 
to the saintly mothers, and the patriotic sires who labored so 
long and so well in the cause of religion, of truth, of freedom, 
and of right, — and testify our unshaken confidence in the early 
dawn of a brighter day in the history of our Church and 
County. 

While it may not be denied that "deeds, not stones, are 
the true monuments of the great," equally certain is it that 
memorial columns and mortuary shafts are "footprints of 
history on the pages of time." Happy is that people whose 
land is worthy to be thus dignified, — whose soil is hallowed by 
distinguished graves. Within the confines of this common- 
wealth we recall no section better entitled to commemeration 
in this regard than the old County of Liberty. The name 
which it bears was accorded by common consent in grateful 
acknowledgment of the patriotism and valor of its inhabitants 
during that eventful period when the freedom of this common- 
wealth was purchased by a sublime sacrifice of treasure and of 
blood. Here dwelt Signers of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, Members of the Continental Congress, Governors of the 



20 

infant State, clergymen, military leaders, and men of repute in 
other avocations who might justly stand in marble and in bronze 
for the veneration and the emulation of the present and the 
coming generations. 

The Congress of the United States ordered that a monu- 
ment should be builded to the memory of General James Screven 
who received his death wound within cannon range of the spot 
where we are now assembled. It has never been reared. The 
obligation is as binding now as when it was at first solemnly 
recognized. In relaying this corner stone let us express and 
cherish the hope that no untoward events or undue procrasti. 
nation will delay the consummation of our laudable deeign, 
but that the purpose which we this day reinaugurate may be 
speedily accomplished. Thus by a physical embodyment of 
the exalted memories and valuable traditions of this people, 
and by symbolizing the general gratitude, will we stimulate a 
fuller, a prouder recognition of the virtues and the valor of the 
days that are gone, and encourage nobler efforts for the 
rehabilitation of a region formerly so favored, and for so many 
years the abode of refinement, of industry, of morality, of 
patriotism, and of civilization. 

Although those in whose honor we propose to erect this 
shaft have long since passed into that realm where there are 
"trees of unfading loveliness, pavements of emerald, canopies 
of brightest radiance, gardens of deep and tranquil security, 
palaces of proud and stately decoration, and a city of lofty 
pinnacles through which there unceasingly flows the river of 
gladness, and where jubilee is ever rung with the concord of 
seraphic voices," — although amid the beatitudes of that eternal 
home their visions are rapturously fixed upon the glories of the 
New Jerusalem, — who will deny that it may not prove inter- 
esting, nay even grateful to them — our canonized ancestors — 
to note our loyal impulses, and to mark our filial endeavor to 
rescue from oblivion the brave deeds which they wrought, the 
Christian acts which they performed, the triumphs which they 
achieved, and the worthy reputations which they here 
bequeathed before they ascended beyond the stars ? 



